James Carlson's WeblogJames Carlson's Webloghttps://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/feed/entries/atom2009-06-21T11:35:07+00:00Apache Rollerhttps://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/so_longso longcarlson 2009-06-19T08:10:00+00:002009-06-19T15:10:00+00:00
<p>Today is my last day at Sun Microsystems. It's been a good run. I've<br/>
been here for a little over nine years. I've filed about 949 bugs,<br/>
closed or fixed 604 (likely more), and I've been involved in a fair<br/>
number of projects, including PPP, PPPoE, RIP-2, SolarMAX, Quagga,<br/>
Kevlar/Zones, Rampart/TX, Zulu/LU, DHCPv6, NWAM, and RBridges.<br/>
I've been the PSARC chair on and off for many years, and even had a<br/>
tour of duty on the OGB. I haven't lacked for variety.</p>
<p>But it's time to move on. I have a new job and new challenges ahead<br/>
of me, and I'm excited to get started on it.</p>
<p>Many thanks to all those over the years who've given me help, clue,<br/>
and support. There are simply far too many of you to list.</p>
<p>Keep up the good work. I'm still an OpenSolaris user -- except for<br/>
the family Mac, everything I have runs it -- and I'm looking forward<br/>
to what develops in the future.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/packets_out_of_the_wrongPackets out of the wrong interfacecarlson 2009-04-30T12:02:24+00:002009-04-30T19:02:24+00:00<h3>The Problem</h3>
<p>
A common complaint for Solaris users runs something like this:
</p>
<blockquote>
I have a Solaris system with two Ethernet interfaces connected to
different subnets. Sometimes, I see an IP packet come in on one
interface, but the packet goes back out a different one.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
This behavior is bad for my network, because I have firewalls that
check the packet sources, and they drop these misdirected packets.
Why does Solaris do this? And how can I fix it? I've tried disabling
routing, but that doesn't seem to help.
</blockquote>
<p>
Problems like this when reported are usually closed out as "will not
fix," as for example
<a href="http://bugs.opensolaris.org/view_bug.do?bug_id=4085133">CR
4085133</a>.
</p>
<h3>The Why</h3>
<p>
The underlying problem here is at last partly a misunderstanding of
how TCP/IP works. When a system transmits a packet, it must locate
the "best" interface over which to send it. By default, the algorithm
for doing that is as described in
<a href="http://www.apps.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1122.html#sec-3.3.1">RFC 1122
section 3.3.1</a>. Note in particular section 3.3.1.1. This requires
the system to look at local interfaces first -- all of them -- to try
to match the destination address. And once we find the interface by
the destination address, we're done.
</p><p>
That alone is enough to make things not work as expected. If you send
a packet to the local address on ce0 from some other system, but that
other system is best reachable through bge0, then we'll send the reply
via bge0. It doesn't go back out through ce0, even if the original request
came in that way.
</p><p>
When considering a non-interface route (whether only the "default
routes" of RFC 1122 or the more flexible CIDR routes of
<a href="http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1812.txt">RFC 1812</a>),
the system will look up the route by destination IP address alone, and
then use the route to obtain the output interface. This often causes
the same sort of confusion when a "default route" ends up causing
packets to go to the default router that the administrator thinks
don't belong there.
</p><p>
I actually consider this a design feature of TCP/IP, and not a
flaw. It's part of the robustness that IP's datagram routing system
offers: every node in the network -- hosts and routers alike --
independently determines the best way to send each distinct datagram
based solely on the destination IP address. This allows for "healing"
of broken networks, as the failure of one interface or router means
that you can potentially still use a different (perhaps less
preferred) one to send your message.
</p><p>
There are some related bits of confusion in this area. For example,
some programmers think that binding to a particular IP address means
that the interface with that address is "bound" and all packets will
go out that way. That's not correct. The system still uses the
destination address to pick the output path for each individual IP
packet, even if your socket is bound to an address on some particular
interface. And, as long as you don't set the ip_strict_dst_multihoming
ndd flag (it's not set by default), binding to an address doesn't mean
that packets will only arrive on that corresponding interface. They
can arrive on any interface in the system, as long as the IP address
matches the one bound.
</p>
<h3>The Solutions</h3>
<p>
There are many ways to fix this issue, and the right answer for a
given situation likely depends on the details of that situation.
</p>
<ul>
<li>The main issue here is the kernel's forwarding table, so putting
the right things into the forwarding table is one of the first tasks.
<p>
A common problem is that the administrator has set up a "default
router," but that specified router cannot correctly forward to all
possible IP destinations. Some packets the system sends end up
getting misdirected or lost as a result. The solution is not having
that router as a "default router," and instead using more specific
routes (perhaps running a listen-only routing protocol to simplify the
administrative burden).
</p></li>
<li>Some systems have a "route by source address" feature. Solaris
isn't one of those, though there is an RFE open on it (see
<a href="http://bugs.opensolaris.org/view_bug.do?bug_id=4777670">CR
4777670</a>). A better answer, in my opinion, would be to do
something similar to what's suggested in
<a href="http://bugs.opensolaris.org/view_bug.do?bug_id=4173841">CR
4173841</a>. That would be, when we have multiple matching routes, to
prefer a route that gives us an output interface in the same subnet
as the source address.
<p>
It's a simple tweak, and would at least fix
the folks who have problems default route selection. It would not fix
the problems people with interfaces on separate subnets have, though.
</p></li>
<li>Applications that care about interface selection can use
IP_BOUND_IF or IP_PKTINFO to select the specific interface desired.
<p>
See the ip(7P) man page on your system for details.
</p></li>
<li>If all else fails, you can use IP Filter's fastroute/to keyword on
an output interface to put packets right where you want them. You
should be aware that when you do this, you're circumventing IP's
routing features, which means that if there's an interface or path
failure, you may cause connections to fail that didn't need to fail.
</li>
</ul>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/first_instrument_approachfirst instrument approachcarlson 2009-03-17T10:37:34+00:002009-03-17T17:37:34+00:00
<p>It's been a while since I had any dual (instruction) time -- since<br/>
August -- so I went up on Saturday with my primary instructor, Tim.<br/>
The plans were a little vague; just brush up on everything.</p>
<p>He had me do a couple of steep turns first. On the first one, I held<br/>
altitude, but then forgot to pull out the extra power on rolling out.<br/>
On the second, I didn't get the power in soon enough. It's obvious<br/>
that I'm a little rusty there, but it wasn't too bad.</p>
<p>Next was some engine-out practice into Plum Island. On the first<br/>
attempt, I managed to get myself abeam the numbers at 1000 feet and<br/>
really pretty well set up. But then I bungled the rest of the<br/>
landing, as I turned base too soon, didn't slip enough, and couldn't<br/>
bleed off enough altitude to make a good landing. Rather than<br/>
overshoot, I went around. Someone had just taxied off the runway and<br/>
he thought I was aborting the landing because of him, so Tim had to<br/>
explain that we'd blown it ourselves and he wasn't to blame.</p>
<p>I tried again. I came in a little better, but still too high. Tim<br/>
took the controls and put us right down to maybe 50 feet; perhaps<br/>
less. With full flaps, we still ended up with a lot of speed, but I<br/>
was able to make a decent landing from there. Lesson learned: don't<br/>
worry so much about a stable approach; worry instead about getting on<br/>
the ground at the best possible spot.</p>
<p>On taking off out of Plum Island, he had me put on the hood and head<br/>
for the Isles of Shoals. He called up Boston Approach and got us a<br/>
practice ILS 34 into PSM. My first instrument approach! They<br/>
vectored me for intercepting the localizer at 3000 feet, and I managed<br/>
to do that part without too much incident. I even started a stable<br/>
descent without trouble.</p>
<p>But staying within the lateral bounds is much harder indeed. We<br/>
wandered back and forth, and once or twice Boston called us and said<br/>
"we're showing you to the left of course" or "we're showing you to the<br/>
right of course." There really ought to be a "student driver" button<br/>
on the transponder ... they must have thought we were drunk. In any<br/>
event, I was able to wander in towards the runway, and at about 500<br/>
feet, Tim had me take the hood off. Like magic, the runway was right<br/>
in front of us. I was surprised and disoriented enough that I had<br/>
trouble maintaining my previously reasonable approach, bounced twice,<br/>
forgot about the crosswind, and ultimately made the right choice by<br/>
rejecting the landing.</p>
<p>Still, a really good experience.</p>
<p>We then went back to LWM under the hood, and he had me do the VOR<br/>
approach for 23. This involved a lot more work than the ILS, with a<br/>
couple of intermediate altitudes to fly and hold while waiting for<br/>
certain positions. After I was at the MDA for a bit, he had me take<br/>
off the hood. The runway was a bit to my right, but I made a half-way<br/>
decent landing.</p>
<p>It was about 1.5 hours of work, and a lot of good practice.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/bug_buddy_is_no_friend"bug buddy" is no friend of minecarlson 2008-09-19T08:07:13+00:002008-09-19T15:07:13+00:00In academia, when the name of a subject matter contains the word "science," it's a fair bet that there's little actual science involved, if any at all. It looks like a similar principle is involved with software: if it calls itself someone's "buddy," it's a fair bet that it's unfriendly.
<p>
This certainly applies to GNOME's "bug buddy." This utility intervenes on crash of a GNOME application, and tries its level best to format up a problem report. Unfortunately, its best just isn't anywhere near good enough in most cases, and by design it prevents a core dump from happening. That latter attribute means that it actually \*prevents\* someone from fixing the problem, as core dumps contain far more information than just the stack trace that "bug buddy" would have logged on its best day, and thus it annoys me to no end.
<p>
After much tinkering, I've found a way to turn this bit of nonsense off in Solaris when logging in via dtlogin. The environment for GNOME is set by /usr/dt/config/Xinitrc.jds. Fortunately, like all good X applications, it looks at /etc/dt/config first, so we can use this to set a new variable.
<p>
Create /etc/dt/config/Xinitrc.jds with this for contents:
<pre>
#!/bin/sh
export GNOME_DISABLE_CRASH_DIALOG=1
exec /usr/dt/config/Xinitrc.jds "$@"
</pre>
Mark the file as executable (chmod +x), and the problem is solved.
<p>
For gdm, it's sufficient to add this to /etc/profile:
<pre>
GNOME_DISABLE_CRASH_DIALOG=1
export GNOME_DISABLE_CRASH_DIALOG
</pre>
Unlike dtlogin, gdm reads /etc/profile by default.
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/checkrideCheckride!carlson 2008-08-29T12:44:00+00:002008-08-29T19:44:00+00:00
<p>I suppose the title of this entry gives too much away.</p>
<p>This morning at around 8:30AM, I went to Eagle East. Tim and I looked through the required documentation, the plane's records, and did the checklist to make sure everything was in order. By 9, there wasn't anything left to do but to fly to Portsmouth.</p>
<p>I headed out to PSM at 2500. The airport was busy, with a jet taking off as I was inbound, and an Arrow to follow me. I landed on 34, and taxied off Alpha to November and to the former Pan Am Services to park. I was getting nervous, and I almost held up the Arrow departing the runway. We both parked, and it turned out that was Don.</p>
<p>We talked first about how things would go, and what he was expecting out of me. His last words before going into "test mode" were that I was already a pilot, and all I had to do here was keep my certificate.</p>
<p>The oral exam was easy. We started with the paperwork issues, what you need to be legal, what the airplane must have, and so on. He had a couple of odd questions (such as tire pressure), and then we were on our way.</p>
<p>On the ground, he's your friend. In the air, he's all business. We started off with a power-on stall under the hood, then tracking a VOR. We then went to the East a bit and did a 720 steep turn. Then a few power-off stalls at 1500 feet. Then we descended to 1000 feet and did a couple turns about a point.</p>
<p>Next, it was off to Skyhaven. This is where I started getting in trouble. I was all over the place on my altitude, and he was taking it personally. "That'll be a violation." I just did what I could to hold myself in place, but it was tough. I think 80% of it was nerves and maybe 20% weather (the high pressure made for unstable air and a lot of thermals). We went into the pattern and did some short-field and soft-field take-offs and landings. On that part, he was all over me for being too willing to talk on the radio -- it's aviate first, then navigate, and way after that, communicate.</p>
<p>After a few passes of that, we headed back to Portsmouth. I was right on 1100 feet as we came in. In landing, I made my base too short (and too high), and I was left of the centerline. He was all over me on \*that\*. "There's no excuse." And he's right. As he got out of the plane, he asked if I had a cell phone with me. I said I did. He said, "call your wife and tell her you're a pilot; you didn't lose your certificate."</p>
<p>I'm wiped out. I know what I need to practice from now on in order to get better. But I'm now officially a Private Pilot, ASEL (Airplane Single-Engine Land). In the picture below are Beth, me, Benjamin, and Madeline. And, of course, 61976.</p>
<p><img src="/carlson/resource/pp-asel.jpg" /></p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/good_practicegood practicecarlson 2008-08-13T08:23:49+00:002008-08-13T15:23:49+00:00Since my last posting, I've been doing some more dual test prep work. I went up with Gary once as a practice checkride (some areas good, some not so much), then twice with Tim.
Today was my first solo in about a month. I did a soft-field take-off (partly because I was head of landing traffic, and it'd take less time) and headed out to the practice area, and did a couple of clearing turns. Then I tried a 720 degree steep turn to the right. Not so good -- I had trouble keeping altitude, but my roll-out was right on.
I did a couple more clearing turns, and then did three 360 degree steep turns -- two to the left and one to the right. On each one, I rolled out on my heading, right at my entry altitude, and I hit my own wake turbulence each time. It was incredible! The first time it happened, I was momentarily surprised (did I just run over a cat?), but when I realized it, I yelled.
I then went down to 1000 feet and practiced several turns about a point using a blue water tower that's just west of Plum Island. I tried to keep it in tight (as Tim has been demanding), hold altitude, scan for traffic, and keep track of fields near the tower that could be used in an emergency. After a few turns, I rolled out to the southeast, and called Lawrence. Straight in for 23, I did a short-field landing that probably could have been better.
I went back up into closed traffic, doing a forward slip and a soft-field landing. I was to the left of the centerline, and a bit slow on touchdown (which made the flare less substantial), but not bad. I parked and called it a day.
I'm planning to go up with Sean some time soon (perhaps Saturday), and get some more checkride simulation. It won't be too long until I'm headed to Portsmouth for the test.https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/last_required_itemlast required itemcarlson 2008-07-16T11:54:55+00:002008-07-16T18:54:55+00:00
<p>Last night, I spent some quality time with xfig and drew up some cross-country flight logs for use with my trip to Keene, NH (KEEN). They fold nicely for my kneeboard and have all the information I need.</p>
<p>My plan was to challenge myself a bit more. I'd check the wind en route and see what I could do with checkpoints. That was the plan, at least, and I'm happy to say that I learned something, although not what I was planning to learn.</p>
<p>First off, the weather wasn't cooperating. It's beautiful here -- perfectly clear skies, almost unlimited visibility (as much as I'd expect in summer), and no wind. At all. All the way up to 9000 feet, BOS was forecasting 9900.</p>
<p>So much for calculating wind, which is really just as well. I had no trouble on the flight out staying on the EEN VOR radial and pulling checkpoints from GDM, but getting an accurate enough time source was problematic. The plane's clock is near-unreadable except for short timings (good for timing out a turn under the hood, but not good for checkpoints a few minutes apart), and neither my watch nor cell phone (set to "flight," which turns off the radio) has sweep-second.</p>
<p>Getting magnetic heading and temperature (the latter for TAS) was no problem. Working the whiz wheel while scanning for traffic -- not so good. It's much easier at the kitchen table. I think that if I were in a real bind, I could probably manage it, but I'd probably be better off getting the raw numbers and then landing early to replan the rest of the trip. Assuming I'm doing this for fuel calculation purposes anyway when dealing with an unexpected wind, setting down and getting more fuel and perhaps calling an FSS fixes all problems at once.</p>
<p>So, it looks like I'll probably want to get some kind of fancy computer for the usual case. At least now I know what sorts of features I need for it to be useful.</p>
<p>The other interesting note was about comfort. It was 32+C on the surface this morning (90+F), and rising, but as soon as I got up above 3000 feet, it cooled way down, to about 18C. It occurred to me that this is just a feature of a high-pressure system: descending air is going to bring with it cooler temperatures from above, and that means a more rapid than normal lapse rate on ascending. I don't remember reading that in any of the books (or in ground school), but it seems quite logical, and it's nice to know.</p>
<p>At EEN, I met up with what appeared to be a local pilot talking with a Cessna aircraft salesman. The latter was showing off a really nice looking Skyhawk SP with G1000 screens. I asked the pilot to sign my log book, and a few other folks (the pilot's wife and some other guy) showed up to introduce themselves. We talked for a couple of minutes. The pilot told me that they're moving the terminal to the other side of the field soon. I thanked them, and went back to go home.</p>
<p>The trip back home was mostly uneventful. I couldn't pick up Boston Approach on the outer frequency for EEN -- probably because they were extremely busy -- so rather than pester them I waited until I was in range for 124.9, and I stayed with them until I was about over Lowell. I was a little distracted by staying clear of Pepperell (jumping possibly active), and I had to reorient myself once on the LWM VOR, but I had the field in sight (and told Boston so) when they kissed me goodbye.</p>
<p>Total time was 2.0. That's probably about 1.2 in the air, and as much as 0.8 taxiing around and doing run-up. In any event, I've got the last piece of the requirements puzzle, and I now have to talk to Tim about doing practice checkrides and then scheduling the real thing.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/brushing_upbrushing upcarlson 2008-07-12T11:20:10+00:002008-07-12T18:20:10+00:00
<p>It's been a few weeks since I last flew, so I was expecting this solo practice to be a bit rough. I started out with some minor problems during pre-flight: the fuel hadn't been topped off since the last flight, and the pilot-side window was sticking. I ordered some fuel and found a way to maneuver the window into closing.</p>
<p>I had listened to the scanner before driving in, and it sounded busy. It turned out that there was a fly-in at EAA, so as soon as I switched from getting ATIS (all in one shot this time; my first one-shot copy ever) to ground, I heard a lot of directions and chatter. I waited for my moment and then called "Lawrence Ground, Cessna 61976, at Eagle East, with Information Oscar." The someone else made another call, and the tower answered them before getting to me. "Taxi to runway 5 via Alpha, winds are 110 at 8, caution: mower adjacent to taxiway."</p>
<p>This is my first clue that something is up: the winds are 60 degrees off of the runway, and they're not switching. They have a line of people coming in, one after another, and 5 is the longer runway. I start my taxi and wave to the guy on the mower so he knows I see him. I start my run-up, and I listen as some guys come in to land making position calls as though they were at an untowered field. I chuckle to myself and imagine what the controller must think. "Uh, yeah, Piper, I can \*see\* that you're on short final." It's good to know that it works both ways, and my discomfort with untowered airports is similar to theirs.</p>
<p>I announce that I'm ready, eastbound, and get my clearance. As I taxi out to the runway, I wrestle that window closed. I'm going to need to say something about that. I do one last glance at the oil gauge, then put in the power and, after a short roll, check to see that airspeed is alive. I then remember the crosswind and put the wheel most of the way to the right. I lift off into what has to be my best take-off ever. I'm right on the runway heading the whole way up.</p>
<p>I then headed out to the practice area at 2000 feet. I do two clearing turns, slow down a bit for maneuvering, and I tune in the CTAF. There are a few folks coming in and out at Plum; it's busier than I've ever seen. I head out towards the coast and start doing a steep turn to the right. I go around 720 degrees and roll out on my heading, but I've lost 200 feet -- twice the standard.</p>
<p>I remind myself to put in power during the turn. I then try 720 degrees to the left. This time, I lose 100 feet, but then end up climbing out as I forget to pull the power back out.</p>
<p>Well, this is why we practice. So I try something harder. I do another clearing turn, and I spot traffic above and to the south, traveling west. It doesn't seem a factor. I roll into a steep right turn and apply about 300RPM. After 360 degrees, I roll left into a steep turn. There's a brief moment when I'm less than coordinated, but it turns out well. I do another 360 degrees and I'm about 50 feet off of my original altitude. This is better.</p>
<p>I then do some slow flight and maneuvering with partial flaps. I climb up to 2500 feet and do one convincing power-off stall before heading back to home.</p>
<p>They give me a right downwind for runway 5. I descend early enough that I'm well set up for pattern altitude and airspeed before the time I get there. As usual, though, I end up a bit too tight. The tower gives me clearance before I can even make the midfield call. The wind is now 140 at 8 -- a direct crosswind. I pull the power early, before the numbers. I know that with no headwind, I'm going to be high. My base is almost non-existent and I end up a bit to the left of the runway and high. I pull all the power, put in full flaps and bring it right down. I'm at 70 over the numbers, and I land cleanly, though to the left of the centerline (why am I \*always\* left, no matter where the wind is?). I finish off the crosswind by turning the wheel to the right while slowing to taxi, and I need a bit of power to get off at Delta.</p>
<p>I taxi off, and we're busy enough to be like a real airport. The controller gives me a frequency for ground, and I have to contact them to go park. I clean up, get clearance, and park right on the centerline.</p>
<p>All that was just 0.9 on the Hobbs. After I settle the rental, I let them know about the sticky window. I'm getting a bit more confidence that I can get to the practical test soon. I have to get the sequencing down for those performance maneuvers so that I'm well within the requirements, though.</p>
<p>On Wednesday, I'm planning to go to KENE (Keene, NH) for a solo cross-country. I need another 0.7 worth of solo cross-country time, and that ought to do it. After that, it's probably some practice checkrides with Tim and maybe another of Eagle's CFIs.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/one_test_downone test downcarlson 2008-07-11T10:30:09+00:002008-07-11T17:30:09+00:00
<p>I've been attending the ground school at Eagle East over the past 14 weeks, and it's an intense effort, especially at the end. There are a lot of random things to memorize (why 10 days to report an accident?), some skills to practice (finding wind correction from course and wind data, finding wind speed and direction from measured course progress), and quite a few things to learn in depth (such as weather).</p>
<p>It paid off, though. I got my sign-off on Wednesday by taking a practice test, and this morning, I went to Eagle East's CATS center, and finished the real FAA test. I missed four questions, giving me a 93%. I wish I'd done better (of course), but I'm quite satisfied with both the results and the help that Eagle's ground school (Sean and Don) gave me. I'm sure I would not have done nearly as well just by reading the books alone.</p>
<p>Between ground school, vacation, and other things, I've been away from flying for several weeks now. I plan to go up tomorrow morning and file off some of the rust before completing my requirements for the practical test.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/more_hood_workmore hood workcarlson 2008-06-13T16:25:28+00:002008-06-13T23:25:28+00:00
<p>Today was a bit cooler than Monday, around 80F instead of 90+. He had me do a short-field take-off, and I think I was up in about 700 feet or so. The one thing he caught me at was that I wasn't checking the gauges before releasing the brakes.</p>
<p>Tim is starting to transition from "instructor" to "examiner" on these trips. For this one, he had me put on the hood at 500 feet, and we headed out to the practice area. We practiced holding a heading and controlling airspeed. He then had me take off my hood, and he said, "you're out of the clouds, but your day just got worse: your engine is out," and he pulled the power.</p>
<p>I trimmed for best glide, and looked around. In front and to the left was Hampton, which is a grass strip. I had no idea where I was, so I'm glad that Tim took over making the calls as we approached, though, really, I do need the real-world practice in making those position reports. I was way too high, so I made a standard-rate turn to the right, and came out exactly in position to land. I was on a decent approach (as best I could tell), but Tim "helped" the landing.</p>
<p>Tim did criticize my maneuver. I shouldn't be turning away from the field, even if I can make it come out ok. Instead, I should head right for it, and then circle my way down.</p>
<p>We taxied around, with a Cub landing behind us, and got into a position to take off again, this time with a real soft field. I made my calls, and he had me go through the pattern once. The first time we came around, I was way too high, so I just went around again. The second time, I was much better, though perhaps a little low. I landed cleanly, though.</p>
<p>Then I taxied back and took off again, and the hood went back on. We went east, and then south, and practiced some stalls. One started falling towards a spin, but I got the nose down, kicked the opposite rudder hard, and got back out. Then the hood came off again, and he said, "engine out." After trimming to best glide and running through a slightly better (though still flawed) mock restart procedure, I looked around, and I said, "I know where I am here; that's Plum Island up ahead." I headed towards it, and started slipping to lose the altitude I needed to lose.</p>
<p>Tim didn't quite like that, and I was perhaps still a bit too high. He took the controls and did a 45-to-60 degree bank in a circle to lose a bunch of altitude. He gave it back to me, and I landed without much trouble. I made the calls, taxied back, and did a short-field take-off. This one turned out quite nice.</p>
<p>Then the hood went back on, and we headed back to Lawrence. On the way, he had me do unusual attitude recovery. He said that the traditional way to do this is to have the student close his eyes, then the instructor does something crazy, and the student tries to fix it afterwards. He said that this is just unrealistic; nobody's going to do that to you in real life. In real life, you're going to get distracted while you're in the clouds -- maybe talking to ATC -- and _you_ are going to mess up the plane's attitude.</p>
<p>So the procedure was that I closed my eyes, and he called out a series of maneuvers for me to perform. First a standard-rate turn to the right. Then a turn to the left. Then a climbing turn to the left. Then leveling out. He had me open my eyes, and I looked at the instruments. The airspeed was stable, and the wings were tilted a bit. I fixed that, and then said, "uh, it looks like I'm done." He said he was a little disappointed, because I didn't get nearly as messed up during the eyes-out part as I should have. Oh well!</p>
<p>We went back to Lawrence under the hood, and he had me take the hood off in the downwind. He wanted me to do a power-off accuracy landing, and hit the 500' mark. I did ok on making the approach without power, but I was long on the landing because I tried to keep it too tight. I don't have that judgment yet -- I haven't practiced power-off much.</p>
<p>I'm on the schedule for next Friday. I plan to do a solo cross-country if the weather holds. Right now, they're calling for poor weather, but that always changes. This is the last required item on the list. I need to do a good bit of practice, and maybe some more prep time, but the requirements are just about done.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/the_f_in_i_mthe "f" in "I'm safe"carlson 2008-06-08T21:00:00+00:002008-06-13T23:02:52+00:00
<p>Tim and I went up to knock off some of that simulated instrument time I still need, and to get some flight test prep time, as I think I'm getting close to taking the test.</p>
<p>We started with a soft-field take-off from Lawrence, which was a bit shaky. I haven't practiced this in a while.</p>
<p>The temperature in the morning was pushing 90, and it just got hotter as the day went. We headed out to Portsmouth first, putting on the hood at 500 feet AGL. Tim had me do the approach and descent to about 500 feet before I could take the hood off again. A quick side-step, and I landed without trouble -- not too hard to do with an 11000 foot runway.</p>
<p>We taxied off, and Tim pointed out where I'll go for my practical test, then we sweltered in a run-up area while I set the radios up for a short trip to an untowered airport for practice.</p>
<p>I sounded like a rank beginner when I got there. I think it was mostly the heat -- and fatigue -- that caused this. I keyed the microphone, let out a huge "uuuhhh" and proceeded to give one position report after another that left big question marks in the sky. Sigh. An uneventful landing, then another soft-field, but a little better.</p>
<p>Then more hood work on the way back to Lawrence. Somewhere near Portsmouth (I can always tell where that is by the turbulence), he had me do a stall and recovery. It's nerve-wracking under the hood, because I can't see where the nose is going, so I have more worry about spinning. In recovery, I forgot the carb heat, and Tim let me know it.</p>
<p>I then used the VOR to get back to Lawrence, and took off the hood at around 1000 feet. We were at 1.9 hours total time (around 1.2 under the hood), and I was drenched in sweat. I'm feeling a little more confident, though.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/raining_againraining againcarlson 2008-06-06T10:49:53+00:002008-06-06T17:49:53+00:00Another rainy day here in North Andover. I went to Eagle East with the hope of getting a picture of Cleo (Tim's dog) for my son's class project, but neither was there. I just updated the schedule to go back on Monday morning, and I hope we'll get some good time in. The forecast calls for a high of 94, but maybe the morning won't be too bad.https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/catching_upcatching upcarlson 2008-05-29T21:00:00+00:002008-06-06T17:47:05+00:00
<p>I'm posting this a bit late, as I've had a couple of busy weeks.</p>
<p>I mostly needed to get rid of some of the rust that had accumulated since doing my night work, so I headed out to the practice area by myself for a little practice, taking off from runway 14.</p>
<p>I started with two clearing turns, then did one standard-rate 360 degree turn to the right, and then one to the left. I had planned to do some steep turns, but it was getting a bit bumpy, and I was unsure of myself, so I skipped that.</p>
<p>I then headed down to 1000 feet AGL, just west of Plum Island, while listening to the CTAF. There's a nice blue water tower that's by itself, and I did several turns about a point with the tower as a reference. There was some wind from the southeast, so this was good practice.</p>
<p>I then went south to do some S-turns above I95. Nothing special there, but I did what I could to make my transitions between turns smooth and on-time.</p>
<p>It was time to head back to LWM. The tower gave me a left downwind to 14, so I entered the pattern near the cat-in-the-hat water tank. My approach was less than perfect, and I was a bit high on final. I put in 40 flaps and just brought it down.</p>
<p>The whole time I was out there, I just felt a bit off. Partly, it was the time since the last flight. Another big part was the time of day -- afternoon rather than morning. Still another was the heat; it was stifling. But it was just one of those days.</p>
<p>I need to get some time with Tim, do some more hood work, and practice up for the test.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/night_movesnight movescarlson 2008-05-13T20:05:22+00:002008-05-14T03:05:22+00:00
<p>The last night flying I did was quite <a href="http://blogs.sun.com/carlson/entry/november_2462_tango">a while ago.</a> On that trip, I got just two take-offs and landings to a full stop. So, per the regulations, I needed another 8 in my log book.</p>
<p>I scheduled time with Tim tonight in 61976 (my usual plane), starting at 8:30PM, and I got to the airport at about 8:20. Civil Twilight today started at 8:31. If I'd been thinking about it, I probably would have scheduled for 8PM. It always takes at least a half hour more than I expect to do the pre-flight, run through the checklist, get clearance, do the run-up, and get ready to roll. By the time we headed out of runway 5, it was almost 9PM, and the tower was closing down the pattern.</p>
<p>So, we headed off to Beverly. I flubbed the navigation a bit -- the top VOR with the integrated controls sometimes doesn't like me -- but with the airport only 13 miles away, it was easy enough to find the beacon visually. I made a straight-in approach to runway 16, then taxied back to go up again.</p>
<p>It was a nice, cool, clear, and calm night. We had had strong gusting winds all day, but they were predicting that they'd die down by evening, and they were quite right. At least I didn't have to correct for wind too much in an unfamiliar pattern at night -- with the PCL timer cutting out on me every now and then just to make things interesting.</p>
<p>We went around the pattern five times, taxing out to the other end each time to take off in the other direction; a luxury afforded by the lack of wind, and probably a good thing for the neighbors. On the last landing, he had me land with lights out to simulate an alternator failure. It's hard to judge the ground like that, and I came down a bit firmly.</p>
<p>We headed back to Lawrence about two minutes to 10. They close the tower at 10, so we came in doing position calls. I picked runway 32 (approximately straight in) for my first approach. My reasoning was that I could \*see\* the runway in front of me, and I was already low enough to make a good flaps-and-lights-out approach. Tim pointed out that it was the short and narrow runway, and that I should have gone in the pattern. I came in, made a sloppy sort of slip, and landed hard again.</p>
<p>We taxied out to the far end and turned around to take off on 14. I went up and turned left into the downwind for 23. I made my position calls, then turned base. I was a touch high, and Tim said to slip it. I eased into the best slip I've ever done. The nose pivoted to the right, I stayed right on the track I wanted, and I got at least 1200 fpm descent, right to the runway. I let out the slip, flared, and landed firmly (again without lights), but pretty much where I wanted.</p>
<p>I taxied off at Alpha near the approach end of 5, after taxing the long way down the runway. Tim said I did the best I've done so far, and I told him about Sean's advice regarding trim.</p>
<p>That's it; my full 10 landings are done. On to the next item to check off.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/more_practicemore practicecarlson 2008-05-05T21:00:00+00:002008-05-07T17:16:30+00:00
<p>A clear day with no wind: a good time to practice those landings. What I've discovered is that if there's a headwind, it'll slow your actual ground speed, and being a little fast on approach won't make much difference for the ground roll. Every landing looks good. But on a calm day, you have to be as slow as you can make it, or you'll have trouble. Plus, I tend to be a little anxious to turn base as soon as I'm able, and that can easily set me up with too much energy for the rest of the landing. So, as contrary as it seems, it's the calm days, not the windy ones, that are the tougher. (A tailwind is far harder still.)</p>
<p>I headed out to the practice area, did a couple of slow and deliberate clearing turns while practicing my scanning, and then entered slow flight. First with 10 degrees of flaps, then 20, and trimmed down to 60 MPH. I did a few turns in slow flight, and one power-off stall, and then headed back.</p>
<p>The tower gave me a right downwind entry for runway 5, so I made my descent towards pattern altitude and came in. I intentionally kept it a bit slow -- 90 MPH -- so that I had time to think about how close I was (spacing out that downwind is tough if you don't have the rhythm and mental picture of the turn when the numbers hit 45 degrees) and line up my ground track. I then proceeded to make a somewhat high but doable approach using full flaps. I ended up getting permission from the tower to turn off at the runway intersection and taxi back. Obviously, I landed longer than I wanted.</p>
<p>I taxied back to the start, and tried a short-field takeoff. I set the breaks, applied full power, and then rotated up as soon as I could. Then nose down a little in order to get to a normal Vy. I was off before the touchdown zone, so I think I did fairly well. On approach, I tried to do a short-field landing as well. I got the airspeed right and was able to get off at Delta, but I touched down longer than I'd want.</p>
<p>I taxied back and tried a soft-field takeoff. I set 10 degrees of flaps while waiting at the hold short line. Then I taxied out and, without stopping or slowing, made a turn to the runway centerline and brought up full power. I tried to hold the elevator back a bit so that I was keeping pressure off the front wheel. Just as with Plumb Island long ago, I had trouble keeping it in ground effect as I was supposed to do. It just wants to fly. I got up to a couple of hundred feet, accelerated to 85, and retracted flaps.</p>
<p>For this last landing, I tried short-field again. I set full flaps and aimed for the numbers. I set down shortly after, and hit the brakes. I had to bring power back in order to make it to the first turnoff at Delta. Success! I taxied back and tied off.</p>
<p>I talked with Tim, and we'll be doing some night work next week (I need 8 more takeoffs and landings at night), and my plans for ground school and the tests coming up.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/practice_what_you_ve_learnedpractice what you've learnedcarlson 2008-04-18T07:43:23+00:002008-04-18T14:43:23+00:00
<p>It's been sunny and nice here for days, and today was a good day to fly. I checked the weather, as always, but no surprises there: some clouds at 25,000, a NOTAM for rocketry tomorrow, and that's it.</p>
<p>When I got to the airport, Tim had left to go to KACK (Nantucket) all day, and Sean was off. I checked in with Bill, and headed out in 976. The winds are calm, so I have my choice of runways. I go out on 5 (the default anyway) and head to the east. This time, unlike last week, I remember to set my transponder correctly before going to the line.</p>
<p>Above 1500 feet, everything is perfectly smooth. I haven't yet had a flight like this. Even the ponds and small hills go under me without even a small bump. I level out at 2500, heading 090, right on the nose.</p>
<p>As I get to the coast, I pull carb heat and the power back to 1900 RPM, pull back to hold altitude, and trim up for 80MPH. Then I drop in 20 degrees of flaps. A few seconds later, I drop back to 1700, trim up for 70, and put in 30 degrees. Then I trim down to 60 MPH. I'm in slow flight, just like with Sean, and my altitude is the same.</p>
<p>I do some slow clearing turns, then do my first power-off stall. The horn comes on and I keep the pressure coming. It takes effort not just to pull the elevator, but to keep my eyes outside on the nose to keep the plane right on course with the rudder. The horn starts to get more insistent and I feel the nose dropping, so I push in full power, establish climb attitude, and let my speed build back up to 80.</p>
<p>That's one successful stall. When I put the power back in, I didn't push enough on the rudder, so I'm now flying around 080. I turn back a bit, then do two more stalls.</p>
<p>Next, I did some maneuvering. First, I do a right turn to 180. Then 270. On that second turn, I blow through to about 290, because I'm paying too much attention to a deviation in airspeed. Next, after I realize what I'd done wrong there, I turn to 360 and nail it straight on. I take out the flaps, bring up airspeed, and retrim. Then a turn to the left back to 270.</p>
<p>Now I set up for a power-on stall. I establish a climb at around 80 MPH, then keep the elevator coming back. It's much harder to hold the nose in place, but I know I have to do it and watch the clouds for reference. Finally, after what seems like a long time, the horn starts to come on, and I wait for it to get a little more annoying, then drop the nose back to a normal climb and recover.</p>
<p>That's enough for one day, so I radio LWM and head back. The tower gives me a straight-in for 23, so I fly along the river until I'm lined up with the Cat-in-the-Hat water tower. As I'm coming in, three Mooneys are doing run-ups, all for departure on 23. The air's getting a little rougher as I get below 1500 feet. I'm at the 2 mile checkpoint, so I call the tower, and I'm cleared for 23.</p>
<p>I'm trying to fly the plane by reference to the outside. That means putting the nose where it looks like it should be, then just glancing at the instruments to make sure the airspeed is what I expect it to be. I drop in my last bit of flaps and get myself stable at 70. I cross the numbers just below 70 and get in level flight. I slowly pull out the last bit of power, pulling back, and I hear the stall warning come on as the wheels touch down. It's a fairly smooth landing, and just a few inches to the left of the centerline.</p>
<p>The tower tells me to turn off when able and to park with him. I could possibly get off by Echo, but I'd have to brake a little hard to do it, and I'd rather not lose control due to a braking problem after such a good flight. I motor my way up to Delta, and those Mooneys will just have to wait a few seconds.</p>
<p>I pull in to park, and I'm right on the yellow line. As I secure the plane, I note just 0.6 on the Hobbs. I could have gone a bit more, and gotten some pattern work out of it, but this was a successful day just the same, and cheap fun at $66. I'm getting a good bit more confident. I don't think I'm quite near ready for a practical test, though. I'm at about 40 hours, and have a few more things on my checklist to get done, but it's really the consistent practice that I need.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/stalls_and_the_nosestalls and the nosecarlson 2008-04-11T13:24:26+00:002008-04-11T20:24:26+00:00
<p>As promised, I went up with Sean again today for some remedial work. Yesterday was a perfect day, and this morning the clouds were coming in at 11,000 feet with an afternoon storm on the way. The skies were crowded with people enjoying the last few hours before the weather turns.</p>
<p>We took off from runway 5, ahead of a Saratoga that was taking a longish while on run-up, and headed to the east. Sean seems to like to imitate ATC vectoring the student around, which isn't bad in terms of practice. Fly 090, reduce speed to 80. Now turn left to 360, climb to 3000, and add 30 degrees of flaps. Last time, I was doing each instruction one at a time, now I'm trying to combine them as requested.</p>
<p>We went through several clearing turns and slow flight practice, first at 80, then 60 MPH. Then he had me do some power-off stalls. I mushed the first one, as I left in too much power and had only a weak stall going with the elevator all the way back. He asked me to recover, and I didn't hold altitude. The second one was a bit better.</p>
<p>We went around a bit in a few more circles, and then he had me do a power-on stall. I got a bit of a better break this time, and he pointed out that I need to watch the nose of the plane so that I can detect the smallest amount of yaw, and correct right away with my feet. The clouds make a pretty good reference point, so it's good it wasn't so clear.</p>
<p>Next is an emergency landing practice. He first asks me to describe the "we're on fire, and we need to get down NOW" procedure, so I do. He then pulls the power and says, "ok, show me." I set up at 80 MPH and drop in 40 degrees of flaps. I have to push over pretty far to hold airspeed, and then trim up. He asks where I'm going. I point to a nice, flat-looking patch of ground at about my one-o'clock position. He asks me about Plum Island. I have to admit that I'm not sure where I am in relation to it, so I don't know if I could make it.</p>
<p>He takes the controls and does a dramatic all-I-see-is-dirt 45 degree (or more) turn around towards Plum Island, and points out that, as the stewardess says, "the closest exit may be behind you." He asks where we should go, and I correctly point out that we should head to the runway, and not fly a pattern. He notes that people have lost it trying to do that, so I got that one right.</p>
<p>After climbing back out, we head back to the pattern over LWM. The tower has me enter a left downwind for runway 5, which is pretty much dead ahead of me. Sean asks, and I point to exactly where I'm going; I have the field, runway, and pattern in sight. For some reason, he always leaves me wondering whether \*he\* thinks I answered his question correctly, though (at least for this small part of the flight) I know what I'm doing.</p>
<p>I set up and make my calls. Sean is asking me to identify the traffic, and the increased workload (and burn-out from the exercise) causes me to make mistakes there. I've got the traffic in sight, but I'm not correctly identifying it against the instructions I'm overhearing from the tower.</p>
<p>We ask for a touch-and-go, and I'm second in trail behind what looks like a newer-model Skyhawk. The wind is light, and I don't pull enough power, so I end up high on final. He asks what I'm going to do about it. I don't hesitate. I tell him and the tower that we're going around. Later, on the ground, he criticized that move on two points: first, I should initiate the go-around \*before\* saying anything, because it's "aviate first." Second, I didn't apply full power initially. I know I didn't do that because with 30-40 degrees of flaps, the nose pitches up dramatically with power, and with all the extra altitude I had, I didn't want that. But I wasn't following procedure.</p>
<p>We go around again, and on final he asks if I'd make the field if my engine cut at that point. I say I'm not sure, but it doesn't look like it. Actually, I've been low this whole pass, mostly as I'm at least trying to correct for being too high the last time. He pulls my hand off the throttle and idles the engine. I set up for best glide (well, I was there already), and the intercept looks to be a good 50 feet short of the runway. Power back in, and lesson learned: don't be so low you can't make it. It's at least embarrassing to miss the runway from pattern.</p>
<p>The landing that follows is just awful. My speed is good -- perhaps a little low at 65. The winds are variable, and when I touch down, they're quartering from the left. I don't correct the right way, and I'm unsteady on the runway. I end up in a not-good state and asking for help to recover before we end up in a ditch. This is the first time I've had to deal with that kind of wind.</p>
<p>In the briefing after the lesson he recommends: (1) that after I get the license, I should take an emergency procedures course to practice unusual attitude recovery (I'd planned on that anyway), (2) next week I should go out solo and practice slow flight and stalls, (3) I have to get it in my head that I'm in charge, and I have to do all the flying; I can't delegate if I get in trouble.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/back_to_basicsback to basicscarlson 2008-04-03T11:24:35+00:002008-04-03T18:24:35+00:00
<p>It's a severe clear day in the Northeast, and I went up with Sean (CFII) because I asked for some practice in landing, and for him to beat me up a little. He seems to make me more nervous than Tim, but I also seem to get more out of it, so as long as he's willing to fly with me, I'll take it.</p>
<p>We started in the pattern on runway 23 with winds about 10kts reported to be from 260. I climbed up, leveled off right at pattern altitude, and got to work. I trimmed on the way up and I thought I was doing a good job holding runway heading -- keeping the right rudder in there during the climb and taking it out as I throttle back.</p>
<p>I ask for the option, and we're number two behind a full-stop. As usual, I end up landing a bit left of the centerline and have to bleed off some speed before touchdown. I clean it up and get back off the ground.</p>
<p>As soon as we're airborne, Sean pulls out a map, unfolds it, and drapes it over the instrument panel. I can't see anything but look out the window. I point out that I'm a bit nervous not knowing my airspeed or my altitude. He says that I should just climb the way I did before and watch the nose instead. For altitude, I should turn crosswind at the same point I did last time, and then pull the power back at the same point.</p>
<p>He asked if there were any regulations about pattern altitude. I said I've read them all, but I didn't know of one; it's a safety issue. We take a peek, and I'm at something more like 1800 feet rather than 1200 feet. Again around the pattern, but I'm doing a slightly better job keeping it square because (with a map of the ocean in my face) I'm looking out the window more.</p>
<p>We go a couple of more times around like this, with Sean trying to instill in me a lack of fear about trimming. You just set the trim, and that's the speed you'll go, even if you turn. I _know_ this, but I just don't know that I do.</p>
<p>We take off for the east, towards Plum Island, and he has me go into slow flight. First, 70MPH and 20 degrees flaps. Then 60MPH and 30 degrees. We do some maneuvering around and then take a long slow trip back to LWM at 60.</p>
<p>About 10 miles out, he tells me to let go of the yoke. If I touch it, I owe him a coffee. I'm to steer with my feet alone and control my altitude with the power. It's a bit nerve-wracking. It's a slightly windy day -- winds are now up to 14kts on the ground -- and we're going over the Merrimack river at 2000 feet and descending. Every bump makes the plane pitch up, lose airspeed alarmingly, pitch back down, and then settle.</p>
<p>I'm supposed to be getting it in my head that the plane works for me: set the pitch where I want it, and then assume that the natural stability will do the right thing. Over the VOR (around 2 miles to the touchdown), he lets me use the yoke. I do, but I keep using my feet to steer. I touch down almost exactly on the center line, and I even (for the first time ever) got the stall warning to go off during flare.</p>
<p>We double-time taxi out to Delta, because there's a rocket on our tail, and then head in to park.</p>
<p>Sean says that if he were my primary instructor, he wouldn't have soloed me, because he doesn't think I have enough of an instinct for pitch and power yet. I didn't say so, but I think I was probably on the low end of performance today. I know I can do a bit better, but he's quite right that I'm not configuring the plane right all of the time.</p>
<p>I set up another lesson with him next Friday to do some more slow flight and perhaps some stalls. If nothing else, I need to be confident in these maneuvers for the practical test.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/c_mon_horse_runc'mon horse, run!carlson 2008-03-18T20:16:49+00:002008-03-19T03:16:49+00:00
<p>I got to do my 150+nm trip today.</p>
<p>The weather was perfect. As with other good days, it's just in advance of a storm we're supposed to get tonight. Barnstable/Hyannis (KHYA) had winds at 17 gusting to 23, but forecast to drop to 10 before I got there. That's good enough for me.</p>
<p>I took off a few minutes late out of KLWM, but with about a 14 knot tailwind. I called Bridgeport over the RCO and opened my flight plan, then, after leveling off at 2700 feet, called Boston Approach. The northern part wasn't busy, but they warned me of traffic near Norwood. A good part of the trip was spent just telling Boson that I had their traffic in sight.</p>
<p>I flew my heading towards the Cape and was handed off to Cape Approach. Both the ATIS and the RCO are out at KHYA and have been for a while, so I picked up Otis (KFMH) ATIS instead. The winds were still up around 15 knots, but pretty close to the runway heading at KHYA, so I pressed on. I flew over the northern coast of Cape Code until I had the airport in sight. They gave me an extended left base into runway 6 as expected.</p>
<p>I descended to pattern altitude and headed in towards the airport. I was a little low in the pattern, probably because I was having trouble judging the distance from looking at an unfamiliar field. I touched down at about the right speed, but with tough winds holding one wing up. I rode it out and eventually got all the way down, but it felt sloppy on the ground. I taxied off to Griffin to stop, close my flight plan, and make a few calls.</p>
<p>The guys at Griffin Aviation are great. When I eventually get my license and we go out there for vacation, I'll likely want to stop there -- though the security procedures at that airport are a bit strange and annoying.</p>
<p>I then took off from KHYA and headed out to Mansfield (K1B9). It was tough holding any kind of heading out of there, and a bit bumpy over land, but better at the coast. Cape Approach handed me off to Boston Approach, who eventually told me he had no radar contacts out that direction, and to have a nice day. About five miles from K1B9, I started to hear traffic, and a lot of it. There had to be at least five planes taking off at once out of that one small airport, along with several planes in the pattern doing touch-and-goes. I slowed myself up to match the rest of the traffic, then I flew the upwind, crosswind, downwind, and base rather than attempting a straight-in. I figured it was more polite that way.</p>
<p>My final stank. I was a bit too high, but speed was ok, so I tried to slip it in. When I took the slip out, I let the nose drop, and now I was too fast. I should have gone around right there, because this is a short and narrow runway. I didn't. I tried to hold it off and set down, but I bounced. Twice. I realized I was in trouble and I put in the power and slowly climbed above the trees at the other end of the runway as I took out flaps -- maybe a little too fast. That had to be the slowest, most intense climb I've ever had. And I'm sure it looked just as great to the other pilots watching.</p>
<p>I got back up in the pattern with several other planes. I went around and did a longer final, noting that the winds were much less than expected, and got in ok. I still didn't feel right about the landing. I found a place to stop (it's a very busy little airport), made some calls, and then went right back out.</p>
<p>The trip back was mostly uneventful. I was in touch with Boston Approach the whole way, and KLWM was busy but at least landing on my favorite runway (5), and as I was coming from over KBED, that made it a straight-in approach.</p>
<p>I talked with both Sean and Tim afterwards, especially about the trouble in Mansfield. After discussing other ways I could have handled the problem (just about anything would have been better), I asked Tim to give me some more dual time with complicated landings. I know I need a lot more practice with those, and the cross-country time just stresses the things I can already do fairly well -- plan and talk.</p>
<p>The total trip was about 2.6, so I have another 0.7 left to do on cross-country. Maybe after practicing landing (and unlearning as many bad habits as I can), I'll head up to KEEN.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/welcome_springwelcome, springcarlson 2008-03-07T08:05:57+00:002008-03-07T16:05:57+00:00
<p>Welcome, Spring! Which, in this part of the world, means "Welcome, Fog!"</p>
<p>I planned out my 150nm, three-leg, solo cross-country trip last night. My plan was to go to Barnstable (KHYA) via Bedford (KBED), Norwood (KOWD), and Plymouth (KPYM), then, after a short stop there, go to Mansfield (K1B9), and then return home. It's about 160nm straight-line distance, with one good 72nm leg, so it's well over the 61.109(a) requirements. I called Griffin at KHYA and checked on the tie-down fees ($12) and other logistics (they're right at the end of Delta, across from Rectrix).</p>
<p>Things were looking great on the weather last night. We have a storm coming in this afternoon, but the morning is nice and calm with clear skies. Imagine my surprise when I call 800WXBRIEF and I'm told "VFR not recommended" and "AIRMET for that region." I look out the window -- some cirrus, but blue skies above. The briefer insists that KLWM has 2nm visibility in mist, as does KHYA.</p>
<p>I head out to the airport, and my plan is to call flight service again and get an update. Surely, it has to be just a little bit of morning fog, that's gone away by now, right? Going up 133 to 125, I can see the airfield and the tower from the road because they've cleared out the trees that once stood there. The beacon is on. Hmm. That's not good.</p>
<p>Once I turn into the airport, I can see why they're IFR. There's a bank of clouds right over the Merrimack river, with mist covering the runways. The tower and everything to the south is in clear air, but the rest is muck. I stand outside and watch a twin take off into the mist on IFR from runway 5, and disappear at maybe 200 feet.</p>
<p>If only the airport were more conveniently located directly _on_ Sutton street.</p>
<p>Tim and I did some talking about the planning I did, and about my plans as we head towards getting a license. He seemed impressed that I didn't take the easy way to get the cross-country time (Barnes and Keene would be much simpler), but agrees that I can do it. I probably have around 10 hours to go -- more or less depending on how much I can practice my specialty takeoffs and landings.</p>
<p>We checked the weather again, and KPYM now has a 1400 foot ceiling. We do some checking, and everything along the coast (except KHYA) has clouds. That really makes a mess of my plan to follow the coastline from the 260 Marconi radial in order to stay out of the restricted area. I might not be able to _see_ the coast.</p>
<p>Oh well. It looks like I'll have to wait two weeks to try again. Next week, I'm off to Philadelphia for IETF. Not as PIC, though.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/steep_turnssteep turnscarlson 2008-02-29T12:35:50+00:002008-02-29T20:35:50+00:00
<p>Today was yet another perfect day ahead of a coming winter storm. The forecast is for several inches of snow tonight and very high winds. This morning, though, was calm wind and perfectly clear skies. I think I'm sensing a useful pattern here. ;-}</p>
<p>I took off from runway 5, and headed out to the practice area near Plum Island, climbing to 2500. I then did two clearing turns, and then practiced some steep turns to the right and then to the left. It's been a while since I last did these, and I'm obviously rusty. I was able to roll out within 5 degrees of my target heading (entered at 090, then rolled out on 085), but holding altitude is much harder. I lost about 200 the first time, then ballooned out on the next one. There's a lot of coordination involved in rolling back and pitching down at the appropriate time, as well as reminding myself that I need more back-pressure once I get past 30 degrees of turn.</p>
<p>After doing four of those, I headed back to KLWM. The tower gave me a right downwind entry for runway 5, and I had no problem entering properly. I remembered my previous attempts, and realized that I needed to keep my distance so I wasn't too pushed in. Unfortunately, I turned to base far too early. Part of the problem was just sighting the 45 correctly, but a bigger part of the problem was that there was no wind -- I'm used to having a good steady headwind on final, and calm winds mean that I end up too high.</p>
<p>I realized I was way too high and needed to lose both speed and altitude with little room to do so. I pushed in the power and started a go-around. There's no reason to dive at the field if I'm not on fire. I called the tower and told him what I was doing, and he told me to go into a left pattern.</p>
<p>This was a bit more to plan. I was about 100 feet low in pattern (not good; a result of the work from the go-around, I think) when I called midfield, but was right on at the numbers. I pulled power, carb heat, and put in 10 degrees of flaps and trimmed for a descent. I didn't turn as early, but I was still a bit high on final. I pulled the power way back and settled in at about 75 across the numbers. I made the first-turn off at Delta.</p>
<p>I taxied back, and did it twice again. There were two other planes leaving for weekend vacations between my passes, so I ran up the Hobbs a bit waiting for them to go. No problem; I'm not in a hurry. My last landing was quite nice, though a little on the fast side, and I made the turn-off on all of them.</p>
<p>After I'd taxied off the runway on my last landing, the tower asked what conditions were like out there. "Absolutely beautiful!" I replied. He said I should enjoy it while I can, because it's going to turn ugly soon. I know we're not supposed to use the airwaves for chatter, but it was nice to get a human response in a case where we're usually all business.</p>
<p>I talked to Tim after securing the airplane. In addition to the three-leg cross country, I need to get some more dual time on engine-out procedures, and then a bunch of specialty landings. He said that from here on out, I should be doing all of my landings as short field, soft field, crosswind, or some other kind of practice. The next set of lessons will be practice for the practical test, so when it comes up, I should be completely ready.</p>
<p>I'm a little low on hours (33.2 so far), so I also feel like a few more of these basic practice days couldn't hurt, too.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/biddefordbiddefordcarlson 2008-02-21T12:15:48+00:002008-02-21T20:15:48+00:00
<p>It's been a while since I've flown. The weather has been off and on, with either high winds or low ceilings, and last week I was out sick.</p>
<p>Today was finally the right time. This morning, they were predicting gusting winds up to 21 knots between 1 and 2 PM, but the rest of the time right around 9 or 10. I decided that, worst case, I might have to wait out the wind or divert somewhere, and it just wasn't going to get any better, so I went.</p>
<p>I arrived at the airport at 10:30 and discussed my flight planning with Adam, a new guy. He and I went over the details of my flight, and then at around 11, we went to talk to Tim, and he signed me off. I was supposed to open my flight plan at 11:15, but I didn't get out of there until about 11:45, so I'll have to remember that for next time.</p>
<p>After departure, I asked for a frequency change and then tried to contact Bridgeport radio on 122.1, listening Lawrence VOR. Nothing. I called three times, and got nothing. So, I leveled off at 3500 and called Boston Approach. They gave me 5152 to squawk, and I was on my way. I kept my altitude at 3700 so I wouldn't interfere with Portsmouth.</p>
<p>It's a clear day, and I could see the VOR radio sites on the ground, and that made it a lot easier to get my heading squared away. I guess it's cheating a bit, but I'll call it "pilotage" and leave it at that.</p>
<p>I started my descent based on a radial from Concord, and went back to VFR. I got down to 1500 around 5 miles from Biddeford.</p>
<p>Finding Biddeford was a cinch. Sanford is a huge landmark, as is the highway and the town of Biddeford itself. I noted the water line where Portsmouth Class C starts, and turned to the right to descend to TPA (995) and enter on the downwind. I made my calls and slowed to descend. On turning base, I noticed I was too close and just continued to turn final. On final, I pulled the power back and got to 30 degrees of flaps and settled in. I was around 80 across the numbers, and it made me float a bit, but I eventually touched down and then back-taxied to the ramp.</p>
<p>Getting to Biddeford was a good feeling. Not only was I in the right place, but I made that landing that I was so worried about.</p>
<p>I was half expecting to see a friend of mine drop by there, but I guess he couldn't make it. I sat in the FBO for a good 30 minutes, talking with the guys there and just relaxing from the stress.</p>
<p>I then went back out to the plane, and called flight service to open my flight plan. No more messing around with the semi-functional RCO. I set things up, and taxied out to take off. I departed directly to the southeast and climbed up to 4500 for the return trip. Around E. Berwick, I called Boston and got back on radar. The trip back was quick and mostly uneventful -- other than some bumps around Portsmouth that seem to be there all of the time.</p>
<p>My landing back at Lawrence wasn't exactly my finest, but I didn't bounce it, and I was prompt enough about getting off at Delta. I went back to Eagle East, did a lame job of parking, and secured the plane.</p>
<p>I have to practice the fundamentals for the test, and I need to plan a three-leg cross-country trip for my next big exercise.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/shifting_windsshifting windscarlson 2008-01-31T08:43:02+00:002008-01-31T16:45:03+00:00
<p>Another perfectly clear day with light winds ahead of a predicted storm. Looking out the window right now, it seems hard to believe that any of those predictions could be right -- the sky is clear and blue.</p>
<p>I took off this morning for the practice area. Again, as last week, I climbed to 2500, then did some practice slow flight (80MPH), descent, and turns to make sure I could trim and be ready for pattern work.</p>
<p>I then headed back to Lawrence. The ATIS said the wind was 260 at 10kts, and they gave me a straight-in for 23. It's not exactly straight, but with no traffic around it doesn't much matter. I caught sight of the cat-in-the-hat (water tower in North Andover with a flag painted around it that looks more like the famous hat), and used that to aim myself into intercepting the approach at about 2 miles out.</p>
<p>I radioed in and got clearance. During my descent, he updated me on the winds, which were now 280. That's essentially on the line, and 23 is a better runway, so I continued and made a reasonable landing from a crab. My speed across the numbers was exactly 70.</p>
<p>As I taxied off, the tower directed me to taxi back to the 23 approach end. I pointed out to the tower that the winds seemed to be shifting, and I'd prefer to switch to 32. He approved it and directed me to 32. While I was taxiing, I heard a jet on approach for 23, and the tower switched him to 32 and advised that he was switching the active runway due to the winds. I felt a bit good about having called this one right and perhaps even helped someone else out a little, as the winds were now 290 at 11.</p>
<p>I made right traffic out of 32. There was no bump over the river, probably because of the low (-3C) temperature. There was another plane making left traffic into 32, and the tower first asked me to do a short approach. I reported "unable, student pilot," and he had me extend my downwind. I pulled back to 1900RPM, slowed up, then applied 20 degrees of flaps to reach 80MPH. I saw the other plane on final, and radioed the tower.</p>
<p>After I passed him, I turned base. My nose dropped and I sped up to 90, but I corrected it back gently. I then turned final. This was a tough approach and not stable. 32 is tough when crossing route 125 to begin with, and I ended up low and slow due to the extended downwind. I pushed the nose down and added power to get to the runway. I came in a little fast, a bit under 80, and floated some. That's not helpful in a crosswind at all, but I made the landing and remembered to turn right at delta.</p>
<p>I taxied back to the approach end of 32 and went up again. This time, I did a bit better controlling my speed, and I tried to get a bit of slip into the wind to get a better landing. That didn't really work out, as I was having trouble setting the right amount of slip, and had to revert to a crab. The touchdown wasn't so great, as I left myself drifting a bit after that slip attempt. I taxied back to the ramp and tied down.</p>
<p>Tim and I talked about my Biddeford trip, and talked about the options I should plan for, including going to Portland as an alternate (though fees may be involved), calling the FBO there to find out what they require, going to lunch in the Biddeford area or making a short trip to Sanford on the way back, and then heading home. He signed my book for the next 90 day solo period (my time was up 2/7), and I'm good to go after some planning. The only question is the weather.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/on_the_ballon the ballcarlson 2008-01-24T08:50:16+00:002008-01-24T16:50:16+00:00
<p>After several missed plans -- either low ceilings, rain, or high wind -- I finally got another good day for flying.</p>
<p>We are supposed to have light snow later today (the aviationweather.gov horoscope says noon), but in advance of that, the winds were light and from the west, with few clouds at 6500 and 10 miles visibility. Perfect weather.</p>
<p>After my last botched attempt, I posted on rec.aviation.student and got quite a few good opinions from the folks there. (Thanks again; you know who you are!) I also talked with Sean, one of the Eagle East CFIs. He pointed out that the transition from office work to pattern work would be a big jump, and, like the r.a.s postings, said that next time I should go out to the practice area, try some slow flight, and then come back to the pattern.</p>
<p>I headed east out to the Plum Island area. Because I knew I'd be dipping below 2000 feet, and I'd lose Boston (I can hear them, but they can't hear me), and because I would be returning soon anyway, I opted to listen to both Lawrence and the CTAF. I called out on the CTAF, just in case there was someone in the area, but all I heard were non-local calls (an annoying misfeature of untowered airports).</p>
<p>I climbed to 2500, then put on carb heat, pulled the throttle to 1500, and went full-rich. I held my altitude until the airspeed came down to 80MPH. I then established a 500 fpm descent and trimmed for that, and practiced two right turns -- simulating downwind, base, and final. It worked perfectly. Unlike my usual all-over-the-place approach, I was right on 80 the whole time.</p>
<p>I climbed back up to 2000 and headed west. I picked up the ATIS for Lawrence. Uh oh. The ATIS was broken -- it kept repeating "information Papa, winds 240 @ 10" -- no other data. I told the tower I was 8 miles out with partial information Papa, and that the ATIS seemed to be broken. He promised to check into it and gave me a straight-in for 23.</p>
<p>I flew over Haverhill to intercept the approach, descended to 1500, and turned to the airport. I made the 2 mile call, got clearance, and landed pretty neatly with normal flaps. I was able to trim this time, and that gave me more room to concentrate on getting down near 70 MPH as I crossed the numbers. There was just about zero float. I didn't remember to hold the back-pressure after touchdown, though.</p>
<p>I got off at Delta, and taxied back. Another plane landed, and I waited for him. Then I took off for a right pattern. I called in midfield, and did a fair approach. I'm happy that I was able to get the airspeed and trim a lot more stable. I wasn't in a fully stabilized approach, though, as I ended up under the glide slope (probably due to headwind and a too-long final), and had to add power. But I landed at about 72 MPH (give or take; it's not that precise an instrument), and held the back-pressure properly.</p>
<p>The tower told me he had no other traffic, and authorized me to do a 180 if I wanted. I did that, and set up to go again. My second pass was about the same as the first, and it felt like the wind was picking up a little. He again gave me a 180 back to the approach end, and I went up for a third time.</p>
<p>This time, I told him I'd head to the ramp. I made a nice, clean approach, held off landing until I was very slow, and taxied off at Delta. I even parked right on the lines for the tie-down.</p>
<p>This was a very good day. A couple more like this, and I'll have enough confidence to do that solo trip to Biddeford. I want to be sure that I can land accurately and consistently enough that it won't be a serious concern at that smaller airport.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/better_part_of_valorbetter part of valorcarlson 2008-01-10T11:09:15+00:002008-01-10T19:09:15+00:00
<p>Tomorrow's weather looks awful, so I checked the forecasts and DUATS for today. Things looked good, so I called the school. All three planes were available; I could just drop in. I called the ASOS and winds were from 300 at 10kts, so things sounded good.</p>
<p>I got to the school and called one of the CFIs to get the sign-off needed. No problem; winds are low enough and not far off the runway. "Have a good flight."</p>
<p>I picked out 13081, as that's the one I used for my first solo, and I wanted to fly it again since it'd been out of commission for quite a while. I took off from 32 and started a pretty good climb. I was ready for it, but there wasn't much of a bump going over the river.</p>
<p>I turned crosswind, and the tower asked me to check my transponder. I did, and turned downwind, with a pretty sloppy turn. He said he was getting a reply but no altitude. I fiddled with the knob; something must be loose. I reported midfield and set up for a landing.</p>
<p>I controlled my airspeed more than usual, but had trouble trimming and getting stable. At least the usual turbulence coming into 32 wasn't there. I got down and floated for a while. Once bounce, and then slowed to taxi without running out of runway, but it was anything but graceful. Then I realized how far behind the plane I was -- I got off at Foxtrot rather than Echo. The tower called to ask my intentions, and told me he'd direct me back.</p>
<p>It was a long taxi back to the runway, having blown that turn. I got clearance and took off again. The crosswind and downwind were a little better this time, but -200 feet at midfield. I set up to land and realized that I was actually doing worse than last time. Airspeed started to pick up, and I was too low too far out. I pitched up and applied some power to get in. I touched down better, and was able to make it to taxiway Delta after a fashion, but, again, not at all clean.</p>
<p>So, I taxied back to the ramp and called it a day. Just 0.5 on the Hobbs. I know I need more practice on pattern work, but obviously not if I'm having a day that's this far off.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/on_my_ownon my owncarlson 2008-01-04T11:28:57+00:002008-01-04T19:28:57+00:00
<p>I was expecting to go up with Tim today and do some more hood work, but that's not what happened. Instead, he suggested that I should do some more solo work and get more used to operating the airplane.</p>
<p>I planned out a trip to Beverly, for practice landing there, and then headed up north towards Plum Island. (Though not landing at Plum; I'm not ready for that.)</p>
<p>Once I got to that area, I did a few practice turns, and then called Boston Approach for traffic reports. They had me squawk 5154 and ident, and I got to work. Since I was up there myself, I noticed more things. First of all, the top radio works better than the bottom, and I don't know why. Second, it can be really hard to understand what ATC is saying when there's static. Hearing my tail number but all else with difficulty, I felt like the dog Ginger in that Gary Larson comic -- "blah blah blah GINGER blah blah blah."</p>
<p>First, I tried doing some steep turns. Then I spotted some ground objects and, at 2500 feet (so I could stay in contact with Boston), tried some turns about a point. The winds were much stronger than when I did my first dual practice, so these were more like attempts at turns about a point and sometimes _over_ the point. Oh, well.</p>
<p>I tried both left and right turns while trying to hold my altitude steady. This takes more concentration than it should, so I guess I'll be practicing just that for a while. I headed over to I95 and started an S-turn. Boston called and reported traffic to the north. I couldn't see it, but told them I'd look. After a second report of traffic, and seeing nothing, I finally caught a glimpse of a beacon.</p>
<p>There was a layer of haze over Portsmouth at around 2-3000 feet. Nothing where I was, but it obscured traffic over there. I reported back to Boston that I had the traffic in sight. I probably should have reported the haze so that they knew what I was seeing. I'll kick myself for that now. ;-}</p>
<p>After a few more turns, Boston told me that there was traffic headed my way from the north, and it was another pilot doing airwork. It was over an hour at this point, so I turned due west, and told Boston I was headed back to Lawrence. They terminated radar service, and I switched over to Lawrence ATIS and tower.</p>
<p>At first, it sounded like I'd get a straight-in for 23, as I was expecting. But then they switched to a left base. No matter; I just drifted a little further south, and then turned up towards Lawrence.</p>
<p>As I descended from 2000 to 1200 (TPA), I hit a lot of mechanical turbulence. It was very distracting and it kept me from making a nice base to final turn. I made my call and got clearance. I was too high and too fast, so pitch up, throttle back, and more flaps.</p>
<p>I ended up landing much further down the runway than I wanted, and certainly not stabilized at all, but I was on the centerline and aligned with the runway, and made the taxiway I wanted, so that's good.</p>
<p>While parking the plane, I managed to find the tiny ditch for the tail tie-down and put my nose wheel in it. It wouldn't budge. I shut down and got one of the A&Ps to help move it by hand. Boy, is that embarrassing.</p>
<p>Tim has signed me off now for solo cross-country, so I'm supposed to plan that out, and when conditions are good, I'll go.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/third_solothird solocarlson 2007-12-28T10:55:27+00:002007-12-28T18:55:27+00:00
<p>Finally! A good day. Yesterday was light rain, mist, and then low temperatures with ice forming overnight. This morning, the dew point and temperature were just two degrees apart, and I expected to see advective fog.</p>
<p>But that didn't happen. The sky cleared and the winds were relatively light, at 5 to 8 knots from 260. Last night, Tim called and asked me to go early with Doug. I could tell that Doug was very much interested in getting me in foggles again and practicing unusual attitude recovery, but I just couldn't let this opportunity for a third solo go by.</p>
<p>So, we went up and did five landings, along with a couple of go-arounds. I find it harder to match what Doug wants me to do, because he's used to flying by Navy rules, which are quite different from Eagle East's. For one thing, he doesn't fly a rectangular pattern, but instead wants to see a 180 -- going directly from downwind to final, and putting the first 20 degrees of flaps in on the downwind.</p>
<p>Removing that base means that I don't have time to look at the field, try to judge my position, and then figure out where my turn to final should be. It has to be right from the downwind. I think that's quite a bit harder, so I did most of the approaches the way I learned instead, and talked my way through them so that Doug knew what I was doing.</p>
<p>With the wind at 20 degrees off to the right on takeoff, I had to do a bit of correcting -- maybe 5 degrees on each turn. I then flew a longer crosswind so I could set myself up for a longer base. This worked. I had some trouble controlling airspeed on final, mostly because I'm trying to get the speed down in order to flare better. This means paying more attention when it goes away on me and pushing the nose down.</p>
<p>On the last pass, I had a slightly rough landing. I was going a little too fast, so I pulled up to correct it, but by too much, and dropped quickly down on the runway. Good enough, though, and Doug got out to watch from the side.</p>
<p>Going on my own, I first did things the way I learned -- 10 degrees flaps on downwind, another 10 on base, and the last 10 on final. A decent landing, and then taxi back. The next time around, I try it Doug's way, and completely blow it. I'm far off to the right, and not at all stable on my airspeed. That's it -- power in, going around. I call the tower to let them know what I'm up to.</p>
<p>The next time around, I try the same thing again. This time, I drop right in, with airspeed somewhere between 70 and 80 as I cross the numbers. The plane settles gently and I punch one fist in the air. This is a good one.</p>
<p>The last time around, I'm getting a little tired. I just focus on a smooth landing. In fact, I focus on that so much that I end up drifting to the left and landing awkwardly. I'm down, though, and done for the day.</p>
<p>The next time I have scheduled is next Friday. I'm not sure what will be on the program then, but Doug suggests that I get more time practicing approaches, and I don't disagree. They're harder than they look.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/fogglesfogglescarlson 2007-12-24T12:04:13+00:002007-12-24T20:04:13+00:00
<p>Perfectly clear sky today, but the winds were tough. This morning, the winds were light at perhaps 7 kts. By the time I got up there, 18 knots gusting to 24 or so at the ground, and then (as we learned later) 46 knots up at 4500 feet.</p>
<p>That meant today was another bad day for a third solo. We headed up towards Kennebunk instead. I took my time during the run-up, and set up my VOR frequencies, as well as Boston Approach for traffic advisories and ATIS for Portsmouth. When I was finally ready at runway 23, I was lucky and the winds were fairly steady, though strong.</p>
<p>We climbed up and I turned right to my heading of 046. I continued my climb up to 2000 feet, where Tim had me level out and trim, and then put on the foggles. That's a bit of a shame because I can see that it's a beautiful day, we can see for just about forever, with the coastline stretching out on the right.</p>
<p>With the foggles on, I start my climb up to 3500. Tim switches us over to Boston Approach, and I make the call. They come back quickly, which is a good sign, as it means they're not too busy. I set out what we're doing -- tracking the Pease VOR, thence Kennebunk, and return, request traffic advisories. Squawk 5147, maintain 3500 or higher. We're on our way.</p>
<p>I make my altitude 3600 and start trying to track PSM. I have to do a bit of hunting around, as the wind was more than I got on the forecast (30 knots), but it's also later in the morning. Tim sets up the second nav so that we can intercept a radial so I know when I'm a few miles from Pease. After a bit of flying, I see the radial, and then flag drop on the VOR, and I punch the button to switch to ENE.</p>
<p>With the goggles on, it's easy to see which way you're going and how you're banking, but much harder to tell altitude and climb/descent. I'm spending a lot of my time trying to get my nose straightened out, which has two effects. First, I'm getting way off in my altitude. Second, I'm getting distracted from the VOR and need larger corrections than I want in order to get back on course.</p>
<p>En route to ENE, Tim has me climb to 5500 to look for some smoother air. He lets me know that I'm right below the clouds. All that I can tell is that the air here isn't smooth at all, and I'm getting knocked around much more. I descend back to 3500. The flag drops, so we're right over ENE, and Tim asks me to fly to Biddeford -- a bit of a surprise. I look at my notes, and see that it's 86 degrees from ENE, and I set my heading and the OBS to fly from ENE. A few minutes later, Boston lets us go, and Tim has me take off the goggles.</p>
<p>"Find the airport. When you have it, we're going to do a simulated engine out, so pull it all the way back and establish best glide." I'm working hard to keep the airspeed steady and make left traffic into 24. Someone else is taking off, but we don't see him. He says nothing about turbulence. I get abeam the numbers and bang! the airspeed drops away, and we're headed for a stall. Tim says NOSE DOWN in his CFI voice, and we get our airspeed back. I start turning towards the runway, knowing that the wind is going to blow me towards it.</p>
<p>We're descending into the airport, and about 500 feet above the ground, another upset with the plane looking at the ground. Tim rescues the landing, which I'm sure I could not have made. I pull off the runway and gather my thoughts and reset the radios.</p>
<p>Taking off out of Biddeford is mostly uneventful. I had to force the nose down to get some airspeed, rather than climb through the turbulence above the trees. He has me pick up the Pease VOR and figure a course from the map. I get a rough heading, and at 2000 feet, the foggles are back on. The trip back to Lawrence is very slow and bumpy. Tim asks if maybe piano lessons instead are looking better now.</p>
<p>As advertised, Lawrence Tower gives me a straight-in for runway 23. Tim has me practice another engine-out from 4500 feet starting at around 9 miles out. I get it to roughly 80 MPH, and start gliding in. Lawrence notes my altitude and asks me if we're going to descend to land, and I radio back that we're set up for the approach. He asks me to report over the VOR. I probably should have told him that we were simulating an engine out, but that probably also became obvious when our ground speed dropped to 40 knots or so.</p>
<p>It takes forever to get to LWM. Eventually, the flag drops, and I report crossing the VOR. 61976, cleared to land. Cleared, 61976. It becomes obvious that I'm going to land around a mile short of the runway. Without a headwind, that should have been an easy landing, but nothing about this trip was easy. On short final, the winds start shifting around on me, and I get all botched up. Tim takes the controls again, and demonstrates a good cross-wind landing.</p>
<p>That took a lot more out of me than I expected. My left arm ached on the way home, because I was all nerves, and gripping that control. Tim says I did pretty well for a first time under the hood, and the winds were as bad as he's seen them. I still wish I were less surprised and more in control of the situation.</p>
<p>I'm not on the schedule for later this week, but just penciled in, in case someone cancels. The weather isn't looking too great, but if there's a gap, I'll do that elusive third solo. Otherwise, it might be more engine-out practice.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/hi_i_m_here_tohi, I'm here to reschedulecarlson 2007-12-21T09:29:27+00:002007-12-21T17:29:27+00:00
<p>Another winter day with nothing good happening. Winds are light, but with the ceiling at 1300 and PIREPs for icing at all the nearby airports, there's no point in me going anywhere. Tim suggested that we could go, and let me make the call. I half expect he was waiting for me to say "yes," just so he could show me how wrong I was. In any event, I don't want to go on purpose at 100 feet from the clouds at pattern altitude, so it's a scratch.</p>
<p>I stayed for a bit, rescheduled for Christmas Eve, and briefly talked over Doug's assessment. He gave me a written page with Doug's notes and comments, and this was really helpful. I think his comments are pretty much right on, and said that I wasn't too thrilled with my performance at PSM, because I know I can do better than that.</p>
<p>Then we discussed this recent AOPA article:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.aopa.org/asf/publications/inst_reports2.cfm?article=6153">A pilot challenges conventional wisdom</a></p>
<p>His take on it is that though establishing control first is the important thing, a 180 will still get you out of increasing bad weather while climbing will not. There's no way to know how high it goes, whether you can get there, or if that's the right thing to do. In particular, if you pop up into the clouds, the right thing to do is get level and trimmed (though you should already be there), take out 100-300 RPM, and descend back to where you can see.</p>
<p>It's also good to know where you are. Flying around here is easy, because if you're at 2000 feet, there's really nothing to hit besides other planes. Nothing is that high as long as you're east of Mt. Monadnock. Things would be different in the Berkshires or up in Vermont.</p>
<p>We also talked about options for my next flight. The ever-present third solo is on the list. Another possibility is flying up north and doing some hood work, if the winds don't cooperate.</p>
https://blogs.oracle.com/carlson/entry/portsmouthportsmouthcarlson 2007-12-15T18:47:07+00:002007-12-16T02:47:07+00:00
<p>Tim was busy this time, so I went up with a new instructor -- Doug. He's an ex-Navy pilot, and commutes up here from Maryland in order to teach.</p>
<p>We spent an hour on the ground first talking over all things aeronautical. He's flown a large number of different planes, but not the 172 that I fly, so this is something new for him, too.</p>
<p>I did the pre-flight and he followed me around. He wants me to tell him what I'm doing and why, which is good because it gives me some practice explaining myself, which I'll likely need for the practical test. We get in, get started, pick up ATIS and start taxiing out to the run-up area near runway 23. It's all ice, so I'm going fairly slowly. It's tough to stay on a center line that isn't visible, but at least there's no traffic here.</p>
<p>We start doing the run-up, and the oil temperature isn't yet in the green, so we sit and talk over a few different scenarios. What if there's an engine out? What if you see smoke? What do you do if you're lost? His approach is a bit different from Tim's. Where Tim wants to focus on one thing and get it right, Doug wants to talk through the various scenarios to make sure we have a plan for each one. I'm a bit nervous, so I don't know that I get all of them right. But I do set up the radios and nav before we call for clearance.</p>
<p>We take off and turn towards our heading. I'm watching the VOR, and we're getting blown to the east -- the wind is much stronger than forecast, so I start going to the left 5 degrees at a time, trying to crab into it. Eventually, I get my bearings straight and I see Exeter, so I pick up Portsmouth ATIS, write it down, and switch to tower. I call the tower and tell them only that I have information Juliet. Not where I am or where I'm going. Oops. I realize my mistake when the tower calls back and asks me to ident, and I go fumbling for the button. He might as well have said, "gee, nice to hear from you; but who and where are you?"</p>
<p>He tells us to report a two mile left base into 34. I can see the large body of water near PSM, but I can't really identify the runway. At least I know where it is, so I head towards where I think it ought to be. I'm a bit close on my base, but I make the call. I descend in, and it seems to take forever to get rid of my airspeed and land. It's a good thing that the runway is over 11000 feet long. I have room to land clumsily and even stop and go, with room to spare.</p>
<p>The wind is much stronger here than I expected. I take off and am immediately drifting across the runway because I forgot to turn into the wind as I should have. Doug briefly takes the controls to prevent us from touching down again and spinning or rolling over. But we're up again, and the tower asks for my intent. I ask permission to stay in the pattern, and he tells me to make a left pattern and report my base.</p>
<p>This time around, I'm not making enough correction for the wind, so I call wings-up on my turn to base, and keep going around to final. I'm far enough off the centerline, too fast, and too high, so I just push in the power and go around, telling the tower what I'm doing. The next time around, I crab out much further, and I get what looks like a somewhat stable approach. I do a forward slip to land, but Doug tells me I'm going too fast and need to pay more attention to airspeed. I'm not sure he noticed the slip. We do it one more time and then head back to Lawrence.</p>
<p>Doug wants to go to Beverly, but I hadn't planned on that and, fortunately, it was getting too late now, so we just head back home. After I land he asks me about the approach speed -- and we realize that he'd memorized the speeds in knots, but this instrument is marked in MPH. That relieves at least one of the mistakes.</p>
<p>We talk over the flight afterwards and the notes he'd jotted down during the trip. It seems I did ok given my level of experience, but I'm not thrilled with that performance, particularly completely spacing out on the initial contact to PSM.</p>
<p>I have time scheduled Monday, but that's probably going to be a miss, as there's a storm coming in with high winds forecast. Another session is set for Friday. I'm still hoping for calm (or near-calm) winds so that I can get that third solo. I definitely need some time where I can just practice those approaches and get more stabilized more often.</p>